Last week was the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11. If you went anywhere near social media you were inundated by millions of “Never Forget” posts.
But the problem is we DID forget.
We forgot what the events of that day did to us as a nation. We forgot about every store in America running out of American flags. We forgot that we were all glued to the TV without any arguments over what channel it was on. We forgot that we called people to check on them without asking ourselves first who we thought they voted for. We forgot hugging coworkers in tears regardless of any previous disagreements we had with them.
For a few days we were truly one nation undivided. No one cared about your politics or your religion or your orientation. We were one people against the common enemy.
In the decades since we’ve gone so far from that I don’t think that even another attack like that would unite us again. If COVID didn’t get us all united against a common enemy I don’t think anything can.
No, I’m not wishing for another 9/11. I’m wishing for another 9/12.